7 Web Based Twitter Productivity Tools

Two things I hear a lot when talking to people just getting into twitter is:

1. It takes too much time
2. How do I gauge my success

The truth is that there are TONS of FREE tools out there that address both these issues. In my opinion some tools do their jobs better than others. This is why I put together this solid list of 7 tools that help streamline my twitter experience with minimal effort.

Analytics and Gauges for Success

http://twitter-friends.com/

TwitterFriends is my favorite Twitter analytics tool. It produces in-depth statistics like one’s conversation quotient, retweet quotient, and lists of people you talk to the most. Sites that just base success off follower numbers are fundamentally flawed because of the lack of a conversation metric.

http://twitter.grader.com/

TwitterGrader gives you an overall score by comparing your twitter account to all of its other registered users. The grader uses your activity, followers, following and more to create a fairly reasonable metric of success.

http://cli.gs/

Cligs is my new favorite URL shortener. With an API and in depth analytics for each clig you create it’s a no brainer. It even goes as far as tracking page mentions of the unshortened url.

Organization and Productivity

http://tweetchat.com/

If you’ve ever participated in an activity like journchat you can see the instant benefit. Tweetchat basically turns the public twitter stream into a topic specific chat room. It’s a great way to drown at the noise while tweeting during an event.

http://tweetgrid.com/

TweetGrid is the all powerful, stuff it into one box and make it fast solution. It allows you to create groups, track local tweets and even set up grids for you friends timeline and DMs. It takes some time to get used to all the commands but is well worth it. This is one tool I always have open.

Automation and Ease of Use

http://socialtoo.com/

SocialToo started off as an easy auto-reply solution however it has evolved into something much more powerful. It takes care of the simple tasks like following new followers and unfollowing those who unfollow you. It even sends you a daily digest of all your following activity.

http://brightkite.com/

I’m at a TweetUp and I snap a pic with my cell phone. I then send that pic via email to brightkite with a subject. Brightkite in turn takes my picture and posts a link to it on Twitter with geolocal information. Furthermore it also sends my photo to facebook and flickr.

Which tools should you use?

Well that’s up to you. I’ve found a small place in my bookmarks toolbar for all of these apps. Some I check daily and some I frequent less than once a month. The point is they help me get the job done.

1. Business Solutions For Twitter
2. Printer Tweet 3: Personalizing Your Twitter Page
3. Monitor your brand
4. Printer Tweet 9: Automating Your Tweets
5. Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment